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Jul 19, 2011
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so when members of congress say continue the war in afghanistan, afghanistan, $10 billion a month, they are saying we're prepared to borrow $4 billion every single month to keep that promise. so the president comes to us about once a year and says i need more authority to continue to borrow money to pay for the things that you have asked us to do. that's what it comes down to. now, nobody likes to vote for the debt ceiling because it is so widely misunderstood. most people basically say i don't want to be associated with it. i have been guilty of that in my political career, but the fact is most of us look over our shoulders at the final vote and say we better pass this darn thing because if we don't, we will default on our debt. the full faith and credit of the united states of america is like our credit score. guess what? we have the best in the world. of all governments in the world, we have the best. aaa. it doesn't get any better, and it's always been there. and that has helped us. it's helped us not only to borrow money at lower interest costs but the fact that our economy has loo
so when members of congress say continue the war in afghanistan, afghanistan, $10 billion a month, they are saying we're prepared to borrow $4 billion every single month to keep that promise. so the president comes to us about once a year and says i need more authority to continue to borrow money to pay for the things that you have asked us to do. that's what it comes down to. now, nobody likes to vote for the debt ceiling because it is so widely misunderstood. most people basically say i don't...
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Jul 20, 2011
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president to sustain our military force io afghanistan. that is literally what we'ren do taught about here in this debate. the american people are turning to come to understand it because when you first ask a person, tht obvious answer is no, are you crazy, senator? by what i want one of them in this country? we need more less stack, notts e more. when you go to the point ofjusto explaining that this is to pay d for things we authority -- that's the authority incurred, it isn't just a wage of war. 65a it is a debt incurred to pay fot medicare. we staaidl a to 65-year-olds acr america, you get medicare that will be there when you need pay. when you go to the hospital and turn your bills, will pay thejor hospital and we borrow money to do it. yield? >> thank you. i just walked in i appreciate w your comments about where weereh had h were. of 10 years ago we had a budget surplus in this country as you , recall. we had a number quarter after quarter of economic growth than we know the coming outcome when you have economic growth obviously the
president to sustain our military force io afghanistan. that is literally what we'ren do taught about here in this debate. the american people are turning to come to understand it because when you first ask a person, tht obvious answer is no, are you crazy, senator? by what i want one of them in this country? we need more less stack, notts e more. when you go to the point ofjusto explaining that this is to pay d for things we authority -- that's the authority incurred, it isn't just a wage of...
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Jul 22, 2011
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the current inventory is getting old and worn down from iraq and afghanistan. some equipment can be refurbished with life extension programs, but there is no getting around the fact that others must be replaced. when it comes to our military modernization accounts, he said the proverbial low-lying or low-hanging fruit, those weapons and other programs considered most questionable have not only been plucked, they have been stomped on and crushed. what remains are much-needed capabilities relating to our air superiority, our mobility, long-range strike, nuclear deterrents, maritime access, space and cyberwarfare, ground forces, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that our nation's civilian and military leadership deemed absolutely critical. and he gave examples of a new tanker. he noted the ones we have are twice as old as many of the pilots who are flying them. a new generation strike fighter, the f-35. he said we have got to build more ships. the size of the navy has sunk to the lowest number since prior to world war ii. the army and marines, doing th
the current inventory is getting old and worn down from iraq and afghanistan. some equipment can be refurbished with life extension programs, but there is no getting around the fact that others must be replaced. when it comes to our military modernization accounts, he said the proverbial low-lying or low-hanging fruit, those weapons and other programs considered most questionable have not only been plucked, they have been stomped on and crushed. what remains are much-needed capabilities...
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Jul 14, 2011
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let's start with afghanistan and iraq. we're spending $168 billion in iraq and afghanistan this year alone. $168 billion. this year, fiscal year 2011, we're spending more than $13 billion to train the iraqi and afghan security forces. $13 billion. okay. what did we spend here in america to retrain our workers so they can get new jobs? less than $10 billion. we're spending more money to train afghan and iraqi forces, security forces than we're spending to retrain our own workers all over america. 24 million americans unemployed or underemployed and yet we're spending $168 billion this year on afghanistan and iraq. again, i applaud the president for the actions he's taken, but quite frankly, mr. president, they don't go far enough. the president should have a faster timetable for our troops to get out of afghanistan. i've said is that publicly many times. if you really want to save some money, save that $1 million that it costs to keep one soldier in afghanistan and get them back here. we went to afghanistan to get the talib
let's start with afghanistan and iraq. we're spending $168 billion in iraq and afghanistan this year alone. $168 billion. this year, fiscal year 2011, we're spending more than $13 billion to train the iraqi and afghan security forces. $13 billion. okay. what did we spend here in america to retrain our workers so they can get new jobs? less than $10 billion. we're spending more money to train afghan and iraqi forces, security forces than we're spending to retrain our own workers all over...
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Jul 6, 2011
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first, we waged two wars in iraq and afghanistan, and we didn't pay for them. i think back in my history, and i can remember as a kid that every birthday i would receive a savings bond, u.s. savings bond. and i used to think it was interesting, they would hand me these $25 savings bonds and i knew they cost $18.25 but if i didn't do anything and held on to them, they would be worth $25. grandma and grandpa would give me the $25 savings bond and i knew it cost $18.25. those savings bonds is how we fund wars. americans sack tpaoeuzed -- sacrificed and they bought savings bonds. it was my family tradition. it was the tradition in america. when it came to the two most recent wars -- iraq and afghanistan -- it didn't happen. we borrowed the money from other countries. during that eight-year period of time under president bush, we wage twaod wars and borrowed the money and added it to the national debt. and we did something else. no president in the history of the united states of america ever has cut taxes in the midst of a war. and you know why? because you have yo
first, we waged two wars in iraq and afghanistan, and we didn't pay for them. i think back in my history, and i can remember as a kid that every birthday i would receive a savings bond, u.s. savings bond. and i used to think it was interesting, they would hand me these $25 savings bonds and i knew they cost $18.25 but if i didn't do anything and held on to them, they would be worth $25. grandma and grandpa would give me the $25 savings bond and i knew it cost $18.25. those savings bonds is how...
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Jul 20, 2011
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i disagree with a strategy where we're spending $100 billion to $120 billion in afghanistan in a strategy of nation building that is not the best use of our national security, not the best use of our soldiers who are there to fight for our national security, but those are decisions that were made in the past. and we must pay the bill on those decisions even when i disagreed with them. and then we need to put together a plan that takes on our deficit and our debt, and that plan has to put all of the options on the table. some of my colleagues across the aisle, they said, well, we want to protect the tax spending programs where we've tucked in tax provisions for the wealthy and the well connected. we want to defend those. we don't want to touch those for the best-off americans. but we want to cut the programs for working americans. that is unacceptable. we have seen enormous increase in the disparity between the wages and welfare of our citizens in general and the best-off becoming much, much wealthier proportionately. we can't continue to say that we're going to protect the well-connected
i disagree with a strategy where we're spending $100 billion to $120 billion in afghanistan in a strategy of nation building that is not the best use of our national security, not the best use of our soldiers who are there to fight for our national security, but those are decisions that were made in the past. and we must pay the bill on those decisions even when i disagreed with them. and then we need to put together a plan that takes on our deficit and our debt, and that plan has to put all of...
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Jul 8, 2011
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cam pays in afghanistan -- campaigns in afghanistan wrapping up activities in iraq, and a new openness that the obama administration has pushed forward. and openness was, has been portray inside the space policy -- portrayed about in the space policy that you hear about now. more of a focus on international cooperation and a look at a different blend of space players in our industrial base, not only the companies that focus on the programs of record, but also the emergence of entrepreneurial and commercial space company. to talk about the obama policy, we have two gentlemen today. first, we have jim cullenberger. jim has a lengthy resumÉ, but i will focus on his time focusing on space policy, and that was as chief of staff for the obama white house, chief of staff for the office of science and technology policy. following jim, we have peter marquez. peter served under both the bush and the obama administrations working space policy, and at that time he was the director of space policy at the white house. but first we're going to start with jim. >> well, thank you, david. and it's grea
cam pays in afghanistan -- campaigns in afghanistan wrapping up activities in iraq, and a new openness that the obama administration has pushed forward. and openness was, has been portray inside the space policy -- portrayed about in the space policy that you hear about now. more of a focus on international cooperation and a look at a different blend of space players in our industrial base, not only the companies that focus on the programs of record, but also the emergence of entrepreneurial...
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Jul 27, 2011
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soldiers, in too many cases returning from iraq and afghanistan, are facing even greater challenges in the working market. i was at youngstown university talking, there are programs there, there's a group through magnet in youngstown in northeast ohio about putting -- getting -- helping soldiers and sailors and marines leaving the service, integrating into the classroom and helping them find jobs in that region, someplace we've fallen woefully short. manufacturing, which was moving along steadily earlier this year, we had seen 12, 13, 14, 15 months of job growth in manufacturing, not enough job growth but some, that's even slowing down. steps taken through the auto rescue and other things we did in the last couple of years dealing with this terrible, terrible recession created in 2007 and 2008 the auto rescue saved millions -- auto rescue and other efforts saved millions of americans from joining the unemployment rolls and we're seeing a better auto industry, an auto industry coming back, especially in places like defiance and toledo and northwood and cleveland and lordstown, ohio. bit
soldiers, in too many cases returning from iraq and afghanistan, are facing even greater challenges in the working market. i was at youngstown university talking, there are programs there, there's a group through magnet in youngstown in northeast ohio about putting -- getting -- helping soldiers and sailors and marines leaving the service, integrating into the classroom and helping them find jobs in that region, someplace we've fallen woefully short. manufacturing, which was moving along...
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Jul 26, 2011
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the american people would begin to recognize these savings from withdrawing from iraq and afghanistan. and essential education, job creation, housing, and environmental investments where america's economic recovery and for our strong economic future would be protected from the slashing cuts proposed by the house republicans. the irony is, republican leaders previously have backed all the spending reductions called for in leader reid's plan. now, i don't agree -- and i suspect all of us don't agree with all aspects of this proposed solution. but we're not going to have 100 solutions on this floor. we're going to have one that we can vote on. i wish this would have included new revenue, especially by ending such costly and outdated tax benefits as those still enjoyed by the biggest oil companies to help us pay off our debt even more quickly. i'd like to help pay for the debt incurred by the inexcusable earlier decisions to enter two wars without paying for them. and i continue to believe the surcharge for the wealthiest would mean that they would pay more of their fair share after so ma
the american people would begin to recognize these savings from withdrawing from iraq and afghanistan. and essential education, job creation, housing, and environmental investments where america's economic recovery and for our strong economic future would be protected from the slashing cuts proposed by the house republicans. the irony is, republican leaders previously have backed all the spending reductions called for in leader reid's plan. now, i don't agree -- and i suspect all of us don't...
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Jul 12, 2011
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and, yes, maybe we've got to bring the troops home from iraq and afghanistan sooner than many here would like or that the president would like, and save substantial sums if we do that. most certainly if we're going to go forward with shared sacrifice, yes, we do have to ask billions, despite all of their power and all of their campaign contributions and all of their lobbying, maybe the billionaires who are doing phenomenally well may have to contribute to deficit reduction. yes, maybe those companies that stash their money in tax hyphens in pwerpld and the cayman eye hraldz -- in bermuda and the cayman islands, maybe they are going to have to start paying their fair share. on my web site which is sanders.senate.gov, i put a small letter which said to the president, mr. president, stand tall. take on these right-wing ideologues who want to make devastating cuts to working families. and in a couple of weeks we have 135,000 signatures on that letter, and i think that letter reflects what the american people want. they want shared sacrifice. they do not want to see the elderly, the kids or w
and, yes, maybe we've got to bring the troops home from iraq and afghanistan sooner than many here would like or that the president would like, and save substantial sums if we do that. most certainly if we're going to go forward with shared sacrifice, yes, we do have to ask billions, despite all of their power and all of their campaign contributions and all of their lobbying, maybe the billionaires who are doing phenomenally well may have to contribute to deficit reduction. yes, maybe those...
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Jul 6, 2011
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right now there are 140,000 brave americans risking death and injury in afghanistan and iraq. do we reduce our responsibility to them because republicans don't want to burden millionaires? additionally, payments to doctors under medicare, medicaid could be suspended. where do the seniors and needy americans turn then in the event of an urgent medical problem? at a time when nearly 14 million americans are out of work and struggling to keep food on the table, unemployment benefits could lapse. we're talking about the possibility of people without incomes, people unable to sustain their basic needs. in addition to destroying the safety net for ordinary americans, a default crisis would likely threaten america's position as the economic giant of the world, as we see the possibility of widespread panic on wall street and the damage to the credit markets that could lead to the loss of millions of jobs across the country. the question has to be answered, mr. president: why are the republicans willing to walk on this economic tightrope to win favor among wealthy contributors? it's be
right now there are 140,000 brave americans risking death and injury in afghanistan and iraq. do we reduce our responsibility to them because republicans don't want to burden millionaires? additionally, payments to doctors under medicare, medicaid could be suspended. where do the seniors and needy americans turn then in the event of an urgent medical problem? at a time when nearly 14 million americans are out of work and struggling to keep food on the table, unemployment benefits could lapse....
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Jul 29, 2011
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senate say to the president of the united states, as an example, we want you to continue to wage war in afghanistan at the cost of $10 billion a month, this president knows that he will have to borrow about $4 billion a month to meet that congressional appropriation. you see, we borrow about 40 cents for every dollar we spend. similarly, when it comes to the payments that we make to our veterans, who are disabled, we have promised them we will pay you, because you served our country and you lost a limb or you were injured and we will compensate you for that loss for the rest of your life. we need in making that commitment that we're also making a commitment to borrow the money necessary to do it. so periodically a president will come to congress and say, i understand our obligations which you have sent to me and i have approved, and now i ask you to extend my authority to borrow the money to meet those obligations. that has happened 89 times since 1939. since we passed this law, presidents of both parties have come to congress and asked for that authority. and aceman as i mentioned, not d congress
senate say to the president of the united states, as an example, we want you to continue to wage war in afghanistan at the cost of $10 billion a month, this president knows that he will have to borrow about $4 billion a month to meet that congressional appropriation. you see, we borrow about 40 cents for every dollar we spend. similarly, when it comes to the payments that we make to our veterans, who are disabled, we have promised them we will pay you, because you served our country and you...
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Jul 6, 2011
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-- or afghanistan, then iraq. both wars totaling well over a trillion, $2 trillion. that will ultimately, both of those, the tax cuts and the wars, accounts for about $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 and going forward. now, madam president, the facts are clear. the tax cuts that president bush put in place contributed to the deficit and the revenues have got to be addressed if we're employing to go forward -- if we're going to go forward and deal with this. federal revenues today, the money the government takes in, is at its lowest level since 1950. we've had a 60% reduction in revenue and a 60% increase in expenditures. and right now, we're at the lowest level of revenue taken in that we've been at since the 1950's. and there are only about 14% of the total g.d.p. the fact is that the last five times we balanced the budget, those revenues were about19% or 20% of g.d.p. so here we are at 14%. we've balanced the budget five times previously. and the revenues were at about 19.5% to 20% of g.d.p. doesn't that tell us
-- or afghanistan, then iraq. both wars totaling well over a trillion, $2 trillion. that will ultimately, both of those, the tax cuts and the wars, accounts for about $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 and going forward. now, madam president, the facts are clear. the tax cuts that president bush put in place contributed to the deficit and the revenues have got to be addressed if we're employing to go forward -- if we're going to go forward and deal with this. federal revenues today, the money the...
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Jul 21, 2011
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over the entire decade, the cost of afghanistan and iraq wars is about $1.3 trillion. and that is a lot of money. again, that's over ten years, over a decade. this year alone, the deficit is expected to be $1.4 trillion. the deficit this year will be larger than the cost of the iraq and afghanistan wars over ten years. the driving force behind our deficit is not the wars in iraq and afghanistan. it's just not. war costs represent only 4% of total outlays over the last ten years. the total amount of money spent since president obama took office is $8.5 trillion. by the end of his first three years in office, we will have added $5 interest to our gross federal deficit. these are stunning numbers. bush had a widely criticized $450 billion deficit. since president obama has been in ofsz the deficits -- in office the deficit looks like it will be $1.5 trillion. we are borrowing too close to half of what we're spending every single day. in the last few years, discretionary spending, non-defense discretionary spending in the last two years increased 24%. 12% a year on average
over the entire decade, the cost of afghanistan and iraq wars is about $1.3 trillion. and that is a lot of money. again, that's over ten years, over a decade. this year alone, the deficit is expected to be $1.4 trillion. the deficit this year will be larger than the cost of the iraq and afghanistan wars over ten years. the driving force behind our deficit is not the wars in iraq and afghanistan. it's just not. war costs represent only 4% of total outlays over the last ten years. the total...
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Jul 27, 2011
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forces in iraq and afghanistan, saving $1 trillion in the process. our troops in the middle east deserve our admiration and praise for so successfully carrying out their missions. we must, however, continue to press for a strategy that will bring our troops home as soon as we safely can. the reid deficit plan would find an additional $40 billion in savings by cutting fraud and abuse in tax compliance and a number of non-defense federal programs and $60 billion in other savings, including cutting unnecessary spending on agricultural subsidies and auctioning off electromagnetic spectrum that the government currently holds. finally, by cutting the government by over $2 trillion, we'll have to borrow less money than anticipated and that will save an additional $400 million -- sorry, $400 billion in projected interest costs. in total, the senate democratic plan on which we will vote would cut the deficits by $2.7 trillion over the next ten years. while senator reid's proposal would not address the tax gimmicks and loopholes throughout our tax code that he
forces in iraq and afghanistan, saving $1 trillion in the process. our troops in the middle east deserve our admiration and praise for so successfully carrying out their missions. we must, however, continue to press for a strategy that will bring our troops home as soon as we safely can. the reid deficit plan would find an additional $40 billion in savings by cutting fraud and abuse in tax compliance and a number of non-defense federal programs and $60 billion in other savings, including...
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Jul 15, 2011
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the treasury of enormous amounts of money at a time that we had two wars raging abroad in iraq and afghanistan, also unpaid for. and a new entitlement program passed in the past congress unpaid for. and a wall street that instead of being a free market was a free-for-all market. you put that all together and that's what we're coming out of. so i'm wondering, you know, your answer to me suggests that there isn't anymore monetary policy that is going to come forward that could in essence seek a more faster, more robust recovery with a greater job growth? >> well, as i said in my, in my testimony, we, given that there's a lot of uncertainty how the economy will evolve, we have to keep all options, both for tightening and for easing on the table. we're doing that. but, again, we are already providing an exceptional amount of accommodation and, as you know, recovery is still pretty slow. >> now i want to turn to the question of the debt ceiling. i know you discussed that quite a bit. i find it interesting under president bush's years, he raised the debt ceiling to the tune of about $5.4 trillion, d
the treasury of enormous amounts of money at a time that we had two wars raging abroad in iraq and afghanistan, also unpaid for. and a new entitlement program passed in the past congress unpaid for. and a wall street that instead of being a free market was a free-for-all market. you put that all together and that's what we're coming out of. so i'm wondering, you know, your answer to me suggests that there isn't anymore monetary policy that is going to come forward that could in essence seek a...
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Jul 26, 2011
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was encountering all of the money that we are going to save by not continuing operations and iraq and afghanistan for the next ten years at their current level. that that was also in the rhine and budget. as it turns out, the rise in budget receives $2.2 trillion in savings without using that accounting gimmick triet compared to the president's 2011 number, the ryan budget saves $6.2 trillion without using that accounting gimmick. with the ryan budget does -- if you look through the various charts and pages of it -- it also has various comparisons, including pretty much the obligatory comparison to what is called the current law budget that cbo scores, and in that he compared because that's what cbo does the oco cost for the overseas contingency operation cost, but he did not utilize that in order to achieve the savings in his budget. so i had made the same mistakes others had in assuming what we were told was correct. paul ryan made it clear no, that wasn't correct. when we criticized the bill that the majority leader has brought up for use in over a trillion dollars in savings from that oco acc
was encountering all of the money that we are going to save by not continuing operations and iraq and afghanistan for the next ten years at their current level. that that was also in the rhine and budget. as it turns out, the rise in budget receives $2.2 trillion in savings without using that accounting gimmick triet compared to the president's 2011 number, the ryan budget saves $6.2 trillion without using that accounting gimmick. with the ryan budget does -- if you look through the various...
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Jul 14, 2011
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denying the federal treasury those moneys at a time in which we had two wars raging abroad in iraq and afghanistan and new entitlement program unpaid for, and a marketplace that instead of being a free market, which i support, became a free-for-all market in which investor decisions end up becoming collective risks to the entire country. and that's what we have been facing. instead of meeting this responsibility, they favor cuts in entitlements to seniors, to the disabled, the families struggling to make ends meet, to students seeking to get the college education that can help fuel america's prosperity. that's what we saw in the house republican budget that passed. but are willing to decimate our nation's economy to protect entitlements for the rich. they've dug in their heels and walled off irresponsible, unnecessary tax breaks for big oil companies. they've walled off entitlements to multibillion-dollar corporations and millionaires who need no entitlements because they believe, blinded by their ideological haze, that the rich are entitleed to their outrageous ways even if it means ballooning th
denying the federal treasury those moneys at a time in which we had two wars raging abroad in iraq and afghanistan and new entitlement program unpaid for, and a marketplace that instead of being a free market, which i support, became a free-for-all market in which investor decisions end up becoming collective risks to the entire country. and that's what we have been facing. instead of meeting this responsibility, they favor cuts in entitlements to seniors, to the disabled, the families...
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Jul 29, 2011
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afghanistan is not settled, mr. president, and we have to have a certain level of stability on the ground in afghanistan or we will have wasted the billions that we have already spent and the lives of our military personnel in afghanistan because it will go back to the way it was before, a center for terrorism that will come to our country or can come to our country. it did once already and we have been over there to try to wipe out al qaeda and the taliban, which has been in league with al qaeda. we have been over there losing american lives and spending american taxpayer dollars to protect our country from another 9/11. to say that we're going to cut $1 trillion in the future over the next ten years when we aren't placing the emphasis on what are the conditions on the ground is not sound policy and it's certainly not sound national security policy. so that's illusory. and then the other parts of the cuts that i think are very hard to decipher are cutting waste, fraud and abuse, which we all want to do, but we don'
afghanistan is not settled, mr. president, and we have to have a certain level of stability on the ground in afghanistan or we will have wasted the billions that we have already spent and the lives of our military personnel in afghanistan because it will go back to the way it was before, a center for terrorism that will come to our country or can come to our country. it did once already and we have been over there to try to wipe out al qaeda and the taliban, which has been in league with al...
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Jul 20, 2011
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president, to borrow the money to sustain our military forces in afghanistan. that is literally what we're talking about here in this debate. the american people are starting to come to understand it because when you first ask a person do you want to extend the debt ceiling, the obvious answer is no, are you crazy, senator? why would i want more debt in this country? we need less debt, not more. don't you get it? understandably, that's the public reaction, but when you go to the point of explaining that this is to pay for things we have already -- debts we have already incurred -- and it isn't just to wage a war. it's a debt incurred to pay for medicare. we said to 65-year-olds across america you get a health insurance plan called medicare and it will be there when you need it. when you go to the hospital and turn in your bills, we'll pay that doctor and pay that hospital, and we borrow money to do it. mr. brown: will the assistant majority leader yield? mr. durbin: i will. mr. brown: i just walked in. i appreciate your comments about where we were. 10 years ag
president, to borrow the money to sustain our military forces in afghanistan. that is literally what we're talking about here in this debate. the american people are starting to come to understand it because when you first ask a person do you want to extend the debt ceiling, the obvious answer is no, are you crazy, senator? why would i want more debt in this country? we need less debt, not more. don't you get it? understandably, that's the public reaction, but when you go to the point of...